Connecting rod play

[gsxrboy96]

Hey guys, i have a 1996 electra glide with 22k miles on it, i pulled the top end down to do gaskets and noticed the front rod had alot of side to side movement, If im measureing correctly, it has .035 clearance, the book says .030 is max, But i did a couple of searches on here and found that alot of guys rotate the rod to the bottom of the stroke, and then measure end play at the wrist pin hole, which i hear .093 is max, i only have .065, so do i tear this thing down and send it off to have the flywheels looked at, or send it, im thinking im gonna throw it together and make it live lol. chad. ps, no up and down movement.

[Jim Kraft]

If it was mine I would run it. No up and down it should be good to go. I would not worry about .005 over on side play. Thats my 2 cents.

[Spanners39]

Originally Posted by Jim Kraft

If it was mine I would run it. No up and down it should be good to go. I would not worry about .005 over on side play. Thats my 2 cents.

What he said...if it goes belly-up in the future you'll have to tear it down anyway so you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by leaving well alone.

[grbrown]

When I had my 1990 stroked the builder told me he would check the rod bearings closely as they routinely go out of round. He wouldn't cost that as part of the job, because they were so unpredictable. My rods were both out of round by a few thou, so he honed the bearings and fitted oversize rollers. The next motor he stripped after mine was a later Evo and that was so bad he fitted a complete new bearing set.

Which is by way of saying your bottom end will on the one hand probably take you round the clock, yet on the other hand fail inspection by a competent builder! Difficult choice. My rebuilt motor was sublime and wonderfully smooth.